Black American Muslim Woman's Life-Changing Six Months Living in Kenya

I have been in Kenya for 6 months and it has changed my life. I have been in Kenya for 6 months and it has changed my life. In this video, I will be talking to you about what I've learned, why I chose Kenya, what it's like, what things I have done, and what my experience has been like as a Black American Muslim woman. So my name is Zaakirah and I am a brand cultivating strategist and a world traveler. I am also a childhood eye cancer survivor, and I see only in one eye. So right now I am seeing you in one eye, which is my prosthetic eye, is in the right. So I have a very unique perspective on what it's like traveling as a disabled Black American Muslim woman. So I have all these parts of my identity. So in this video, I'll be telling you more about my experience, and then I'll also open up the opportunity for you to Exclusively travel with me, or I can share with you the places that I've been. And I can also personalize your trip if you are looking to travel to Kenya. You're one of those digital nomads, remote workers, and you're looking to become an expat and maybe the expat visas. So stay tuned and make sure you share this video. Be sure to subscribe for more future content on traveling, on mental health, and on all things Kenya. Are you a Kenyan? I have been in Kenya for 6 months, and I have a unique perspective. I have previous videos about when I did my DNA test. And so when I did my DNA test, this is through AncestryDNA, and I was— I have a code I can link in the bottom if you're looking for discounts on doing your own DNA test. Of course, because it is the DNA test, it's very vague, right? So it's not the other one called African Ancestry where I could have gotten this specific tribe. I really want to, but the brilliant part about being on the continent of Africa as a whole is you technically have natural-born genealogists everywhere. They will look you in the eye and determine by your facial features what area you are from. And really, ever since I've been here, people really think I am from Kenya. I've also heard that they think I am from Tanzania, which is the country right below Kenya. That's the first thing. Why have I been in Kenya? Why did I choose Kenya? I have been spiritually connected to Kenya mainly when I first started taking photography school. I was in photography school in Washington, D.C. There was a school as a part of Boston University that is now closed, but they had a Center for Digital Imaging Arts. And while I was in one of those classes, we had to go on Google and do some location scouting, probably for the wedding session that we had. So I came across a blogger photographer who showed all of the beautiful pictures about a wedding she captured on Lamu Island, Kenya. And from the minute I saw those images, I said probably out loud and underneath my breath, I want to go to Lamu Island, Kenya one day. And little did I know that one day would become 12 years later after— from the moment I saw those photos. So many things in between really led up to that moment. I did say that career-wise I am a brand strategist, so a lot of the times my clients were always international. But also, before I officially became a brand strategist, I had already visited 3 other African countries. My very first time traveling to the continent of Africa was through a program called Operation Crossroads Africa. Which is the progenitor to the Peace Corps, a shortened version if you will, where I got to spend 2 months in Ghana as a primary school or elementary school teacher. And while I was helping to teach them, I believe it was English, but while I was helping to teach them, I had my camera with me. And the minute I take out my camera, like any children in any part of Africa, this is before smartphones, where They didn't really have mirrors like that everywhere, so every time they got to see a picture of themselves, they were so excited. And that was always super exciting for me too, as well, to be able to take pictures of them. As a brand strategist, as a photographer, those types of things gravitated me toward the motherland anyway. Fast forward a few years, in 2021, I was actively using Instagram a lot to build my online brand. This is Post-pandemic, we were still in the pandemic, but it was still everything was still shifting back from a very virtual world to now we're ready to in person. And so one of the connections that I ended up making through Instagram is with a rescue center that was based in Kenya. And they reached out to me also. I am a Muslim woman, and they reached out to me really just saying, "Hi, Salaam Alaikum. Peace be with you. I've loved your content, and we are looking to have." more mentors for the girls. And I have a video on the tour of the center that I've gotten to do since I've been here. And so initially, this rescue center, the Awali Den Rescue Center, was the initial invitation for me to come to Kenya. And it was through them that I was able to arrive on the visitor visa, but also while being here doing voluntourism. So I'm volunteering, and while I'm here, I get to do all of the things and really adjust to being a local through the experience of volunteering. 2021, we first got We connected on Instagram, and so I'm like, I am coming, I'm coming, I'm coming. So many things happened. I think the biggest thing happened was also around that time I knew that the health of my father was deteriorating. I was pretty much helping my mom as well to take care of him. And my dad was— rest in peace, he just passed away April of 2024— and he was a Vietnam veteran who really instilled the love of travel for me. And so having been to 3 African countries beforehand, I really feel like I was just ready and prepared for Kenya. Because when I get to Kenya, everything that I thought I would need is already here. Everything that has been said from other YouTubers about Kenya is accurate, especially of all things positive. Especially again, with me having worked in the digital world and used technology as a consultant, as a strategist, It's so amazing to have such fast Wi-Fi. We get here in 2024 finally, but it took some time. My mom's with me as well, so that's a whole different perspective on what it's like to travel with disabilities and with elders and seniors and what it's like to be a digital worker, creative. So all of those things are right here in the country of Kenya. There's this hashtag that one of the tourism boards is using and they call it #MagicalKenya. #MagicalKenya. And it really is because you can be in the city with skyscrapers and beautiful sunshine, or you can be in the country with nothing but animals and vastlands and savannas, or you can be on the beach with nothing but water and very hot weather. So there's no one thing that you can't Can do, and there's nothing that you can't do, really. I'm not talking about legally, but I'm talking about activity-wise. What are the many things to do? So since I've been here, I've done a little bit of everything. One of the other things I did not mention is that I am a sports enthusiast. So I love basketball. Of course, I love football or soccer because that's over here, but I love basketball. And so again, thanks to Instagram and actually WhatsApp groups, a lot of the things over here are still word of mouth. So thanks to WhatsApp groups and Instagram, I was able to go to a basketball game. So there's this new initiative called BAL, Basketball African League. And so pretty much Africans and Europeans will come together and make a basketball team and have full-on tournaments and playoffs. So I've been able to go to basketball games. 1, 2, 3, 4! Keep my passport! Keep my passport! Keep my passport! I've gone to technology conferences. I've met up with other creatives. I've met up with some people from a personal development program that I've taken that were in, in the city of Nairobi. I got to meet them in person. And again, with me being a Muslim woman, I am also able to just be a little bit closer to my spirituality because there's a difference between the city of Mombasa and the city of Nairobi. The city of Mombasa has a lot more Muslims than the city of Nairobi. And so being in Mombasa, I am able to just go to places of prayer and experience the Friday prayer, experience the Eid prayer, learn the language. Historically, I am known to take the less beaten path when it comes to traveling. So most people, as soon as they get to Kenya, they will go straight to Nairobi, have a few days at the beach. So I did it the other way around. So I went because, of course, thanks to the rescue center, the rescue center is in the area where they call it South Coast in a county called Kwale. And that county is just about almost an hour drive from the border of Tanzania, the next bordering country. So it's so hot, it's so close to the equator. So a lot of my time has been spent there. Also because I have had this vision for a very long time to be able to build a photography studio. One of the other parts of my story that is told in other videos and other sources of media is that my type of cancer and why I can only see in one eye is because of a cancer called retinoblastoma. It is typically detected through the eye. And so I've been rocking this one eye, a prosthetic eye, since I was a baby. And as a source of just freedom and form of self-expression, I was introduced to a camera when I was the age of 5, and I've technically been taking pictures with every evolution of a camera. So photography is never going to go anywhere, no matter how many times I try to put it aside and focus on AI or focus on video or focus on podcasting or whatever it is. But At the core of it, storytelling is my bread and butter and my heart and soul. It's always going to be a part of my purpose. And so I have spent more time in Guyana because I have also helped to build a photography studio in one of their polytechnical centers at the rescue center. So that had taken up a lot of time, a lot of money, but not as much money as it would have been if I was To focus on our vision in America. How much do things cost in Kenya? First, let me say this. The Kenyan currency right now, 10,000 shillings, that's what they call it. Kenya is on the shilling. Tanzania is on the shilling too, but it's a different rate, currency rate right now. But the Kenyan shilling, 10,000 Kenyan shillings right now is about $100 US. So we have easily spent— again, we've been here for 6 months, and of course this is being filmed at the end of April, so we gotta really take a look at our finances and see what's good, what's not good. We also were able to rent a place. It's so easy to spend $2,000 US a month and get way more bang for your buck. Being able to get photography equipment, it's a different price than it would be if you got it in Europe, if you got it in America. Being able to have the transportation to get to where you need to go is a lot more affordable than it would have been in America. So just to name off a couple of the expenses. Now what we did do, we did rent out an apartment. We got to get a 6-month lease for an apartment, and we have this 3-bedroom, 2-bath apartment for the equivalent of $300 US. We do have to pay for our own utilities over here, which to me makes a lot more sense because it's so easy to get tied up when the seasons And you don't know why you're— aside from the fact that you did use your heater and your stove a lot more, you don't know why your utility prices are jacked up to the equivalent price of daycare fees. But over here is a token meter where you put the money, how much electricity you want. And for us, it depends on every single place, right? Because for us, we're still living again amongst locals. Immersion into culture. So we're not part of the expat community, at least not yet, right? So for us, we have these token meters where we can choose how much money we want to put onto the token, how much electricity we need, and we have to refill it. And there's a little box that will tell us and will flash when we're about to run out of meter. But every place is different as far as how much it consumes. Electricity. So for us at our current place that we have, we have not spent more than $100 in a month. Um, and then there's another thing called M-Pesa, which pesa is Swahili for money, so mobile money. And it's basically before even PayPal or Cash App ever existed. It's literally a mobile money account before Venmo, before Zelle, all of these things. It operates the same way. The only way that I can explain M-Pesa is this is before the Venmo than the Zelle, than the Cash App. It's predominantly in Eastern Africa, so that you're most likely going to be able to use it in Tanzania, in Kenya, in Rwanda, in Uganda, I believe in South Africa. I'm not fully 100% sure. How do you get around in Kenya? There's 3 different modes of transportation, give or take, for regular day-to-day getting to where you need to go type of thing. So one of those things is boda-bodas or motorbikes. If you travel to Asia a lot, I've heard that it's pretty common. This is my first time really seeing You reach like this. Whether you're a Muslim woman or not, you can ride those boda-bodas and get like where you need to go for $2 to $3 one way. And if you need a round trip for someplace far away, spend at least $10. But it's the equivalent of about 1,000 shillings. And then there's also something called matatus, which are like minibuses. And then there's something on the coast and outside of the city called tuk-tuks. Tuk-tuks. Or rickshaws. And those are the most common modes of transportation where we have been in the coast. It's adventurous if you like open-air transportation, but of course there's the good old Uber, but they have their own version of Uber called Bolt. What about food in Kenya? They do have Uber Eats, they do have food delivery, lots of food delivery apps, but then of course there's the other extreme where You can go find a market somewhere and get all your fruits and vegetables and literally go to— there's 3 common grocery stores to get pretty much anything that you need. One is called— another called Carrefour, another called Quick Mart. They call Kenya Silicon Savannah. Not many people know about this, but it had super fast Wi-Fi. Now depending on where you are, most places now have backup generators where you don't have to deal with so much power outages. But a lot of the places do have occasional power outages. The power will blink for 15 minutes, but on extreme rare instances, it will go out for more than 3 hours. At one point, I think they were literally adjusting and making more room for electricity that power was out for 6 hours overnight. If you've never experienced any of this, it can sound really scary. But the beautiful part about Kenya is you can get all of the things. You can get the most advanced luxurious experience, or you can get the most local immersed culture experience. And I've been blessed to say that I've done all of the above. And so I have so much to say that can only be done in multiple videos. I don't want to have this video be too long talking about all of the things, but it's been an absolutely amazing experience. And just continue to let me know what other video content you want to see because I've been collecting videos, just haven't posted them. So let me know what content you want to see. Let me know what things surprised you about this video. And also be sure to reach out to me. There'll be a link in the description to reach out to me if you're like, I'm ready to come to Kenya. I want to make it short-term. I want to come for a holiday. I want to bring my friends. I want to bring my family. I want to do something creative. Do something relaxing, focus on my wellness, let me know because I am reopening— I should say reopening my travel consultancy doors. I was a travel concierge, if you will, about 10 years ago when I did come back from my second and third African country and to help people, whether they're budget travelers, and just understand the things that are not necessarily in your AI apps, not necessarily on Google, not necessarily on your Instagram and your WhatsApp and your Facebook. So some things I know because of the people that I've met, because I connect with people differently than anyone else would. So if that's something you're looking to do as well, you can hire me on a monthly basis, as an as-needed basis, to personalize your own trips. So thank you again for watching, and I can't wait to see you and share more tips.